Question to the Department for International Development:

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what the cost of Medevac evacuations from St Helena was in each of the last 5 years.

Flights are activated for lifesaving medical emergencies only, but the St Helena Government’s (SHG) Health Directorate will where possible send other urgent medical referrals on the same flight to maximise value for money. In 2016/17, there were 5 medical evacuation flights (transporting 9 patients) at a cost to the SHG of £203,160. In 2017/18, there were 8 medical evacuation flights (transporting 13 patients) costing £406,820.

Urgent lifesaving medical evacuations were not possible until the airport opened in St Helena. The first medical evacuation flight was on 3 June 2016. Before then, the island relied primarily on the Royal Mail Ship St Helena to get patients off the island for medical treatment. There are, therefore, no comparable medevac figures pre-2016.